The Fire With No Alarm: The Truth On Academic Burnout
By: Reese Watson
Imagine sitting at a desk, papers and books filling every possible space. The teacher at the front of the class speaks with a fast, steady speed; you wish she would go slow, or stop talking altogether. Your eyes are heavy, and your brain is full. I can’t do this much longer, you think, how much more can I take? The pencil in your hand is beginning to feel like lead-- hard to drag across any page. The memory of shiny plaques and printed names displayed across the school hallways comes across your brain, you used to want that so bad, now you feel like you can’t do anything at all. Sitting at a desk numbly listening to the teacher, pencil in hand, ready to write an essay that you know, will never be written.
Academic burnout is an invisible plague that haunts our school halls. Anyone is susceptible to it, no matter the age, gender, or GPA. But what exactly is it, and how can we combat it?
“Academic student burnout is when a student becomes overwhelmed with the stress requirements for keeping up with school work,” says Lauren Alvarez, counselor and therapist at Jenks Northwest Elementary. “It can leave students feeling tired, unmotivated, or purposeless.”
Counselors are in place at schools to help students with combating these feelings of burnout. Yet, every year more and more students are coming forward saying that they’re struggling.
“Mentally going blank, physically feeling so exhausted, and socially becoming drained,” is how Elle Simons, 11, describes the feelings of burnout.
Simons, a determined student with a bubbly personality, always puts academics first, having a love for learning, and one day wanting to become a teacher herself. Yet, since freshman year she has struggled off and on with burnout.
“Some days I’d go home and feel like I was on top of the world,” said Simmons, “other days I’d go home and I’d only be able to lay in bed.”
And she’s not alone.
“I started feeling burned out when I started prioritizing getting the work done for my classes and not learning the actual material. I found myself only working for that grade and not for the passion,” said Sydney Pruner, 11.
Students are under more pressure to get the work done, not so much absorbing what the schools believe they should be learning. Teachers are piling on work, causing these students to struggle finishing it, in return adding more stress.
“Academics are really important to me because I always want to stay eligible,” said Pruner.
As an athlete, being eligible to play in her sport is another factor that ties into her experiences of academic burnout.
75% of American high schoolers and half of middle schoolers described themselves as often or always feeling stressed by schoolwork.
And when we think of excellence at school, what do we picture? We probably picture someone involved in AP classes, someone invested in extracurriculars. Our Anonymous source is just that, a heavily academically involved student, taking five AP courses, committed to many extra curricular activities, while still being a driving advocate for her future.
“My academics are extremely important to me,” said our Anonymous source. “My parents never really cared, so I’m definitely my own biggest motivator and critic.”
Sophomore year was the turning point for our Anonymous source’s personal and school life, harder classes and higher quantities of work created a stressful cycle that–at times–seemed never ending.
“All of the second semester was my true downfall,” they said. “My mental health started to decline because of the stress and added anxiety that came with my school work. I started feeling like I was living in a depressive episode. I wasn’t myself. That's when I started to feel burned out.”
Although burnout looks different for everyone, one thing’s for certain, when you experience burnout, you aren’t yourself. Students suffering from burnout feel like a piece of them is being taken away; they used to have a love for learning, but now they don’t have the energy. They used to push themselves academically, now they can’t push themselves to do anything at all.
“Feeling frustrated, wanting to cry or scream about things that used to be enjoyable, having a hard time getting started and taking that first step to start homework or projects can all be signs,” said Alvarez.
The average high school student gets on average 6.8 hours of homework per week.
However, one question remains, what do you do if you’re burned out?
Burnout isn’t curable, in fact some people experience it in cycles; one month you could be burned out, then the next you could have all the motivation in the world.
Alvarez recommends looking at your life like a pitcher of water, the more obligations in life you have, the more water you have to dump out, if you dump too much you’ll dry out.
Staying connected to things you enjoy can be extremely important during a time of burnout. This could mean doing the hobbies you like, for example reading, watching TV, or working out. Searching for outlets in your personal life can help center yourself from the pressures of your academic life.
“It helps me to go out and find inspiration,” said Simon. “Find something that lights a spark creatively; that usually helps get me back to myself.”
Personal connection and talking to someone who cares is also an important factor when dealing with burnout. Telling someone trusted that you’re overwhelmed or hurting can lift heavy weight you didn’t even know you were holding.
“Spending time with friends and family–forgetting about school–keeps me from drowning in my burnout,” said our Anonymous source.
Finding professional help is also an option for personal connection. Finding a counselor, therapist, even a teacher or parent can benefit in these kinds of situations.
“Find a supportive person,” said Alvarez. “Just having someone to vent about it really helps.”
Perspective is key in situations where a person is struggling; in some cases it's vital to reach out and gain insight from a different person. If you’re burnt out, you could find it hard to start new things, or reach out to new people. But just having someone there, gaining their opinion, could open conversation into how you’re doing, or what's next in your journey.
“Therapy and talking to people is the biggest way I cope with burnout,” said Simon.
Our Anonymous source, also an avid believer in the benefits of therapy agrees, and said, “In therapy I learned ways to cope. I learned what my breaking points were. That helped me the most.”
Teachers are also another option. That's why it’s key to communicate with them; if your grades are stressing you out, talk to the person who is giving you that grade. Most teachers know what burnout is, some of them have even dealt with it themselves.
“I do realize that burnout is a very real thing…” said Lesleigh Clayton, an AP Language and Composition teacher at Jenks High School. “If students came and talked to me I’d understand if they were struggling with their work, and I’d help them.”
On a 10-point scale, where normal values for adults are 3.8, American teens rated their stress rate at an average score of 5.8.
Academic burnout is an invisible burn, capable of changing someone's life forever. You never know when it will hit, but knowing the signs can ease the effects.
So, next time you find yourself drowning in essay’s, tacked with sticky notes, and painted with pen ink, ask yourself: Am I burned out?
If you or someone you know is struggling with burnout, click here and here for more information.